Jody Jazz DV and reeds

3958 Views 14 Replies 10 Participants Last post by Wailin', Nov 27, 2007

saxxy1968

Discussion Starter · May 13, 2007

OK -

In the attempt to find the "perfect sound" I bought DV 7. Nice piece, nice sound, good projections.

Reeds and response have become an issue. I have a love of the V16, but they are not "right" for this piece. ZZ's are very good, Java's and I have never gotten along. I had to jump to a 3 1/2 to play, which is fine.

All, as well as the jazz select (3H unfiled), chirp. It is driving me nuts! I sand the reed. I play the reed, it splits. A few sound great, most do not, and chirp non-stop! I even talked to Jody himself - I am really going broke purchasing reeds.

Am I missing something? Please advise.:?

Lynn Lew

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garyinla

· #2 · May 13, 2007

HI I dont play this mpc, but i play other metal high baffle ones in a 7 8 and 9.

You say you have to go to a 3 1/2 to play the mpc, and then say you have tried a 3H.

If you having any trouble playing, and if you have to sand down the reed I suggest you go DOWN in reed strength not up. Why dont you start with a Rico jazz Select 2M or a Vandoven Java 2.5 and see if you can play those without trouble.

In my expeirence, i was on Rico Jazs Select 3s for sometime, and got into the habit of doing work to the reeds to make them play better. Then one day i tried Rico Jazz Select 2M. Guess what? they play better out of the box for me. Also between the 3s and the 2M is the 2H i havent tried yet.

It seems to me the problem you are having is you are on a 3.5 reed and you need tobe on a 2.5 reed most likely. The indicator to me of this is that you say you are sanding the reeds. If you are doing that, if you moved down in reed #, you wouldnt have to sand the reeds.

The mouthpiece is brand new and the quality control from Jody is generally good (from what i hear) so its probably unlikely the chirping etc is due to a defect in the mouthpiece.

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garyinla

· #3 · May 13, 2007

Also you are modifying the reeds by sanding them. You may be making them prone to chirp and split. Also one nono i have learned is dont do any modifications to the reed while it is on the mouthpiece, you will sooner or later damage the mouthpiece this way. THEN it will definitely chirp.

rispoli

· #4 · May 13, 2007

I've struggled quite a bit with my DV NY 8 (and put it on sale several times) until I finally found a good match in Alexander Superial 2.5 which make it really sing. Now it's quite Link-like but with much faster and better response.

I know yours is not the "NY" version but perhaps those Superial are still worth a try.

senior

· #5 · May 13, 2007

I play with the DV 7 and found that the La Voz Medium works well. So do the Java's. When using the Java I have to harden the 2 1/2 or if I use the 3, I have to soften it. Only wish they made a 2 3/4. Even more important, the amount of mouthpiece you take in will cause chirping if you take in to much, it chirps like crazy, if you don't take enough it kills the very lowest notes. It took me about 3 weeks of using it to consistantly get it right. Now that I found what works for me, it has become a dream to play. I wish you luck in finding what works for you.

andrewbowie

· #6 · May 13, 2007

Alexander DCs work fine for me on a DV 7: half a number harder than I would use on any other mouthpiece. (I use 3's but it depends what you have been using so far.) I have been doing this for some time and have had absolutely no trouble: I don't even have a reed that is completely played out, so good is the quality of the reeds. Having done some work on adjustment of reeds I can get around 8 out of 10 from a box to play well.

benjamin1979

· #7 · May 13, 2007

I found that DV mpc got a very long facing. it can use harder reeds. but i also gave up my DV and now playing a V16 T77 metal. i like the edge and resistant better with my v16.

saxxy1968

Discussion Starter · #8 · May 13, 2007

Dv and reeds

After really analyzing the whole situation, the bottom line is that the 3 1/2 reeds are not "effortless." I can play a 4 hour set w/o any problem, but the horn is not predictable in the extremes, and it chirps. Even #3 V16's chirp, but they are more predictable around the extremes. I know the horn is tight. There are no leaks or mechanical problems. Luckily, intonation is on.

I am a schooled classical alto player, so stiff reeds are the norm for me. I am wondering if I have to change my approach in regard to how the lighter jazz/rock reeds should sound. An edge in the tone makes me nervous. I need versatility, as I am the Ballad chick. The band leader calls a ballad, the rest of the horn section heads to the bar. I need to be able to rock a Sat. nite live style blues, then turn around a play a warm ballad. That's what type of band it is.

Needless to say, there is not a lot of call for classical sax in Milwaukee. So I had 2 choices - learn a whole new style or quit playing.

Should I consider a lighter reed - maybe a 3? Jody Espina recommended stiffer reeds, in the 3 1/2 range, for this piece. The DV has a very long facing.

L:scratch:

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garyinla

· #9 · May 13, 2007

I think you have to open up your mind and try a Rico Jazz Select 2M (FILED version)and a Vanduren Java 2.5. Put aside your classicall background, you are no longer playing classical music, and you are not on a classical mouthpiece. Why would you think you could radically change mouthpieces and keep the same approach to reeds? If you are having trouble with harder reeds, try softer reeds. That is a common sense approach. One objective reason this makes sense in your case is that you are sanding the hard reeds, which has the effect of making them play similar to lower numbere reeds. But the sanding of the hard reed may be insufficient to do the job or may lead to unintended side effects such as cracking the reeds or causing chirping.

garyinla

· #10 · May 13, 2007

Its probably too late to do an exchange, but since you are having trouble with the DV7 and have a classical background (where closed facing mouthpieces are utilized) you would probably be better off on a 5 or 6 DV mouthpiece, particularly if you insist on playing on a hard reed. Assuming your are stuck with the DV7, your best and first alternative in my opinion is to try softer reeds. There is nothing wrong with playing a 2.5 or even a 2 reed. If you have to play a 2 to be comfortable, then you can start with that and work your way back up over time. Most likely for classical sax you were on .065 motuhpiece and the 7 i believe is in the area of .080 so its a significant jump in facing sizes.

Kiyoshi

· #11 · May 13, 2007

Keep trying different brands...

I've been classically trained. I've been taught this whole procedure to ready my reeds to play... the soaking, playing, trimming, soaking, sanding, blah, blah, blah...

Screw all that. I open a box, slap on a reed and if I can't play well with it, I throw away the reed. In all honesty, though, I rarely ever find a reed that isn't playable.

As far as the DV goes, Jody also recommended the RJS for me. I've been playing the V16s for as long as they've been available. The RJS was initially a "better match for the DV," but I realized that the more I played it, the less important the reed brand/strength. I'm now back to V16 2.5 or 3's(depending on the volume of the gig). I am a firm believer that as long as the mouthpiece is free blowing for you, it's only a matter of some hard earned practice. That being said, if the reed is "chirping" try both a softer and a harder reed. But, give your "trial" a little time. Don't make the mistake of judging a reed based on a few hours of play- sometimes you just need to get acclamated to the change...

Also- if you haven't yet tried it, give some bass clarinet reeds a whirl. It really makes a difference in the fullness of your sound. I don't use them often, but for certain gigs, the bass clarinet reeds on my tenor DV sound fantastic. Tony Campise got me on that kick...

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J.Max

· #12 · May 13, 2007

Screw all that. I open a box, slap on a reed and if I can't play well with it, I throw away the reed. In all honesty, though, I rarely ever find a reed that isn't playable.

Some people are more reed-picky than others...

garyinla

· #13 · May 14, 2007

The concept of screwing all the reed prep and slapping on the reed, is to try to find a reed brand and model that works out the box and needs less prep.

As to why RJS (FILED) reeds might be easier to play on the DV, they are already filed so fairly lively and not as resistant to blow as more classically cut reeds. Ditto with the Vanduren ZZ reeds (which might be cut more radically than the RJS FILED.

bfoster64

· #14 · May 14, 2007

I'm surprised nobody has mentioned Hemkes. Hemke #3 is the best reed for my DV. I've tried lots of others, and I highly recommend the Hemkes.

Wailin'

· #15 · Nov 27, 2007

garyinla said:
The concept of screwing all the reed prep and slapping on the reed, is to try to find a reed brand and model that works out the box and needs less prep.

As to why RJS (FILED) reeds might be easier to play on the DV, they are already filed so fairly lively and not as resistant to blow as more classically cut reeds. Ditto with the Vanduren ZZ reeds (which might be cut more radically than the RJS FILED.

RJS filed seems to be the only brand that works for me.

Saxxy1968, Have you tried the filed? It seems a lot o guys detect no differene between the filed and the unfiled. Can you believe I can barely get a sound out of the unfiled. The same strength filed does wonders for me.

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